Happy Endings
by ichigo deathberry
Summary: Excitement settling on her features, Rukia turned over to the last page of the book she'd been reading for six hours consecutively.


Happy Endings

Excitement settling on her features, Rukia turned over to the last page of the book she'd been reading for six hours consecutively. Inoue Orihime had promised it to be of great help to understand the modern rituals between young people. Or, at least that's what Rukia thought the bubbly girl had said…

"And they lived happily ever after..." Rukia blinked. "Wait, that's it?" She asked out loud in complete puzzlement. Her head whizzed around and she looked up at Ichigo, who was resting on his bed. "Oi, Ichigo, what kind of ending line is this?" she waved the book several times in attempt to catch his attention. "This… this doesn't give the story a feeling of closure!"

Ichigo glanced down at her, looked at the book on her hands that she had stopped waving in front of his eyes with a raised eyebrow, and then turned back to his own reading. "What should I know? You read the book." He shrugged, turning over the page of his comic like he had no other care in the world."But... that can't be the ending!" she complained quickly, sitting up on the wooden floor. Rukia skimmed through the book once again unsuccessfully. "I mean... _'Happily ever after?'_ What sort of conclusion is _that_?"

Ichigo caught the book that she had tossed at him so mercilessly and stared at the cover. His eyes skimmed over the title and he suddenly recalled reading it long ago with his mother. He chuckled to himself, for he had made the same question to his mom those many years ago when she'd read it to him. He broke away from his daydream and looked at Rukia.

"Don't you get it?" he began, a know-it-all smirk plastered on his young face. "It's not a 'conclusion,' idiot."

Rukia raised her eyebrows at him, unyielding. The girl crossed her arms over her chest, puffed out her cheeks, and frowned at him. Ichigo knew this posture well. Stubborn Rukia ahead. "Then what the hell is it?"

Right on...

Ichigo paused, thinking the words over his head. Oh, he remembered the answer, just like they'd been spoken by the late Masaki. "It's supposed to be a new beginning," he said to her, offering back the book which she took back silently and completely stunned.

She gaped at him. Hastily, Rukia moved towards the bed and kneeled beside it, staring up at the boy. "Ichigo, you feeling okay?" she pressed cool fingertips against his forehead. It went unnoticed to her how close they were now, her face merely a few inches away from his, her breath fanning his cheeks.

"I'm fine, idiot," he blushed scarlet, pushing her away. She fell back to the floor, a little grunt coming out from her lips, and she looked up at him as he avoided her eyes and glared at the wall. "If you're gonna make fun of me then just don't ask any questions."

"I'm sorry," she laughed, "It's just that I didn't expect you to say that." Ichigo feigned indignace and grunted. Rukia simply rolled her eyes and asked, "So then, poet boy. What's this 'happily ever after' thing exactly? A new beginning to a life of happiness or something like that? Isn't that just some child's way of thinking?"

"How am I supposed to know?" The glare he'd been throwing at his poster-stamped wall was replaced for a thoughtful expression that stretched over his face. Ichigo turned to look at her at last and she held his gaze for a moment... She was soon looking down at the printed pages of her open book. When she did, he frowned and chose to stare at his fingers instead, thinking deeply about it without really intending of doing so.

The boy glaced at his window and took a deep breath. "Maybe it depends on the person, doesn't it? What a happy ending is… What happiness truly is… I think it all goes depends to what each person thinks _happiness_ is, to the meaning they give to the word. Happiness could be everything and anything. Achieving happiness is also something that is completely up to each one of us. And maybe there isn't even a thing like a happy ending, but no one keeps us from hoping." Ichigo shrugged, "Or something like that…"

Becoming annoyed at the silence that followed, Ichigo peered down at her once more and found Rukia boring holes into the book's pages as she flipped through them quickly until she met the final page. Her deep blue eyes were intent on the bolded letters on the right bottom of the page for a couple of seconds; Rukia then closed the book and raised her eyes to meet his. Ichigo was startled by her serious-looking face and frowned darkly as he wondered what sort of question she was thinking of now.

Rukia let out an unexpected sigh and asked, "Do _we _get such a thing, Ichigo?"

For once, Ichigo allowed the shock to briefly show on his face before snapping out of his daze, shaking his head, and taking the book from her hands. This thing was making her... and _him_... get silly ideas... Nevertheless, the frown on his face softened and Rukia could have sworn that he had been smiling as he told her, "Yeah, I think we do."


End file.
